by Rebecca King
Simeon? No, it can’t be. But it was.
The small hairs rose on the back of her neck only she had no idea why. She knew immediately that there was something unusual going on, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he hadn’t called upon her as he had said he would this morning. He couldn’t have been made aware that she wasn’t at her aunt’s already unless he had called at an indecently early time this morning. That worried her, especially because her aunt was at Mrs Merriweather’s house.
How could he know she was here? Had he changed his mind and decided not to see her again and come to town instead? Either way, Georgiana didn’t wish to see him and carefully turned her attention to her tea and cakes.
When it came time for her to leave, she was strangely reluctant to step outside. She studied her surroundings and remained uncomfortably watchful and alert as she made her way back to the hotel. What she intended to do if she crossed paths with him she had no idea but she certainly had no intention of taking tea, luncheon, or anything else with him. She would just have to tell him herself that she wasn’t interested and leave it at that.
The relief that swept through her as she entered the hotel lobby unhindered was staggering, and re-affirmed her decision that any association with Simeon had to end. Not only did the many facets of his personality unnerve her but she had no interest in him as a man and daren’t encourage his affections without tormenting her conscience.
“Ah, there you are, my dear,” Simeon declared suddenly from beside her as though he had been temporarily parted from her.
Georgiana nearly groaned aloud as she turned around and watched him lift her hand to press a lingering kiss on it. Her resultant shudder was barely concealed and had nothing to do with attraction. She snatched her hand back, and fought the urge to wipe it on her skirt as took several steps backward and lifted one elegant yet snooty brow at him.
“I didn’t realise you were here,” she murmured without warmth.
“I saw you in the high street just now,” he replied jovially.
“Well, it is nice to see you again,” she said carefully as she edged toward the reception desk. But the last thing she wanted to do was ask the desk clerk for the key to her room because she didn’t want Simeon to know which room was hers. Because of that she was forced to converse with him until he chose to leave, and that galled her.
She wanted to go to her room, and could see no reason why he should be in a position to stop her. Determined not to be cowed by his presence, she squared her shoulders and stepped around him. She leaned over the counter and murmured the room number to the clerk, aware of Simeon’s avid gaze watching as she accepted the heavy iron key with a nod of thanks. Careful to keep the room number covered, she forced herself to turn to face Simeon.
“Well, I will bid you good day,” she declared abruptly.
“I should be obliged if you would dine with me tonight,” Simeon interrupted as she turned to leave.
Georgiana sighed and eyed the ornate dining room beside them.
“No, thank you,” she replied. “I have plans. Good day to you.”
She didn’t give him the opportunity to reply and hurried up the stairs, her heart pounding in her ears. His eyes bored into her back all the way; to the point that it was a relief when she was able to reach her room.
“Damn the man,” she snapped aloud as she slammed the door behind her and bolted it for good measure. “I am really starting to dislike him.”
There was something almost sly about him, as though he had ulterior motives for everything he did, and she didn’t like it one bit.
“I can keep my distance from him, though.”
While she was happy to do that, she wasn’t so keen on missing out on a sumptuous meal in the beautiful dining room downstairs. She was still mulling that over later that evening when it was time for her to dress if she intended to eat in the company of the other diners.
“It is a voyage of adventure,” she whispered to herself as she eyed the new dress she wore. It was more lavish than anything Cecily had ever allowed her to wear. The decolletage, while still modest, was cut daringly low but Georgiana had been assured it was the height of fashion, and she was glad it was because she was strangely emboldened by this newfound feminine power.
“There is nothing to say I have to dine with anybody.” With that, she gathered her new shawl into her arms, picked up her key, and left the room.
Once down in the lobby, she entered the dining room. In spite of her boldness she hesitated, suddenly uncertain whether this was such a good idea after all.
“Madam?” A tall, dapperly dressed mâitre d’ murmured.
“A table if you have one, please,” Georgiana replied.
“Will madam be joined this evening?”
“Yes, by me,” Simeon replied from behind her before she could open her mouth to reply.
Georgiana glared at him, annoyed that her little adventure of dining alone had been thwarted.
“Please?” Simeon asked. He held his elbow out and waited.
Georgiana looked at him. There was something in his eyes that was almost daring her to reject him in front of the other diners.
There was no harm in that was there? She mused. While they would be dining at the same time, they would not be alone per se because there were plenty of other diners in the room. Would there be anything wrong with it? If he tried to kiss her hand again then yes there would be but, if he maintained his distance, and she said goodnight to him after the meal while he remained in the dining room, it would be alright, wouldn’t it?
Who even knows I am here?
She turned to study Simeon. “How did you know I was here?”
Simeon sighed almost theatrically. “I am staying here as well.”
Georgiana didn’t believe him for a second. There was something shifty in the way his gaze slid away when she stared at him that warned her he was lying. Politeness dictated that she shouldn’t call him a liar right there and then, though, but she knew it was wise to keep her distance.
“He is waiting,” Simeon prompted with a nod at the mâitre d’ standing patiently beside a table for two.
“Thank you,” she replied awkwardly, too hungry to decline his invitation. She didn’t take his arm though, and merely walked ahead of him to the table. At that moment, she didn’t care if he was offended by her behaviour or not. She had several questions she wanted answering, and wasn’t going to trust him until he provided her with proper–and honest–answers.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Georgiana studied him across the table and was acutely aware that she had made a huge mistake in agreeing to dine with him. While she enjoyed the luxurious confines of the resplendent dining room, and had consumed the sumptuous meal with a sigh of delight, her company for the evening was nothing short of disturbing.
Conversation with him about anything was stilted and awkward. His manner kept swaying between being watchful, affable, and jesting, to stoic and bored. It was difficult to decide which one was the real Simeon.
Of course, it doesn’t help you gain any trust in the man when he keeps trying to get you drunk, she mused.
“No thank you,” she murmured for about the tenth time that evening. When he appeared inclined to ignore her, she placed her hand over her goblet. “I said no, thank you.”
“You have only had one goblet,” Simeon chastised as he continued to hold the bottle aloft.
“It is enough, thank you,” she replied, her voice firm. There was a steely glint in her eye as she stared hard at him that warned him he was pushing too hard. Would he recognise it? She waited. When he didn’t relent, she lifted a querulous brow and moved her goblet out of reach.
His sigh was heavy, but she was unmoved by it.
“You thwart me,” he murmured sulkily.
“Do I take it that your intention was to get me drunk? That is hardly the behaviour of a gentleman,” she remarked, less than pleased at the notion.
“I confess that I was hoping a
little alcohol would loosen you up. I get the feeling you are hostile toward me for some reason. I do believe you are not as wayward as I first considered you to be.” There was a sinister tone in his voice that made her study him.
The air shifted and turned faintly threatening. Something within her began to worry. It was so strong that she struggled to fight the urge to get up and leave the table. Inwardly fear began to grow. Outwardly she made her actions as slow and careful so she didn’t betray her alarm while she desperately sought to find a way out without angering him.
“Well, it has been a wonderful evening,” she murmured as she stood.
Simeon glared at her. “But you haven’t finished your meal yet.”
Indeed she hadn’t. The delicious dessert she had started to enjoy now sat heavily within her stomach and made her feel a little sick.
“I am quite full, thank you,” she replied. “I suddenly have a headache starting to form and need to go to my room. Thank you for a wonderful evening.”
She hurried away from the table leaving him glaring after her, his face puce with fury. Given how often he tended to pop up unannounced, Georgiana hurried up the stairs, afraid that he intended to follow her. Her heart pounded and her hands shook as she tried to unlock the door to her room. She cursed beneath her breath as she fumbled with the key and dropped it. She scooped it off the floor and then tried again, desperate to get inside the safety of her room. It was then that her worst nightmare became reality.
“Let me help you with that,” Simeon murmured smoothly, directly into her ear.
The warm rush of his breath against her ear made her shudder in disgust. She was hot and cold at the same time and quite terrified.
“How dare you follow me to my room?” she hissed, hiding behind false bravado. She glanced around the deserted hallway. “It is highly inappropriate of you to be here. Go away.”
She snatched her key out of his hand, slammed it into the lock and turned it only to be forced to stop when she found Simeon blocking the doorway.
“Don’t be like that, Georgiana,” he murmured snidely.
Georgiana froze. “Please move,” she demanded, wishing that someone would appear to make him.
“But this is what you want. I mean, you hurried out of the dining room and made it clear you intended to go to bed.” The calculation was back in his eye as he looked at her. He wasn’t looking at her with interest, he was assessing how much she was likely to protest if he pushed her.
“It wasn’t an invitation,” she snapped.
“Why did you dine with me then?” he challenged.
“I was going to dine alone until you foisted yourself upon me,” she argued. “I thought you were being kind. Whether I dined with you or not is irrelevant, though, isn’t it? Accepting your invitation to dine with you does not give you the right to assume anything beyond us sharing a meal together. It is highly inappropriate of you to be here like this and pester me in this way.”
“But it was highly inappropriate of you to drive my curricle and race around the countryside with me but that didn’t bother you at the time.” His voice turned cynical.
Somewhat deflated, Georgiana hesitated. “That was different.”
“Why?” Simeon demanded. “You are wild, Georgiana. You like to challenge authority.”
“I do no such thing,” she protested refusing to give this man an inch.
“I am afraid that you do. After all, you flouted propriety to parade around in front of the gossips and didn’t care then what anybody believed. Here, we are all alone. Why, you have no acquaintance with a single person in this hotel – apart from me.”
“She knows me,” Will menacingly from his position further down the hallway.
Georgiana gasped and stared at him in surprise which quickly turned to a huge sense of relief. Everything would be alright now. Simeon would not pose any more of a threat to her with Will nearby. To her dismay, she was quickly proven wrong.
“Good evening,” Will drawled as he forced himself to saunter casually past them. He nodded pleasantly to a glaring Simeon, and purposely took his time unlocking and opening his door, but he didn’t stop to help her as he knew she wanted him to. It was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life, but if it made Georgiana stop to consider her foolishness then he was prepared to scare her. Aware that they were watching him, he opened the door and walked into his room without looking back. Once inside, he didn’t latch the door, he stood perfectly still and listened to their conversation in the hallway instead.
Georgiana stared at Will’s closed door in disbelief. How could he simply abandon her to deal with Simeon alone? Did he not see what was happening? Thankfully, her disbelief was swiftly replaced with anger.
“Oh, get out of my way,” Georgiana snapped, pushing hard at Simeon’s shoulder. She slammed the door behind her open, stormed into her room, and tried to close it only to have the door ricochet back at her.
“What are you doing?” she cried glaring down at Simeon’s foot blocking it from closing.
“I intend to show you that I don’t play games,” Simeon replied. He surged forward using his body as a physical force to push her backward and into the room.
Georgiana stumbled against the wall, horrified at just how easily he pushed her around. Before she had the chance to order him to leave, he slammed his lips hard onto hers. Rather than the tender caress of Will’s lips, Simeon’s embrace was almost cruel. He obviously didn’t care if she enjoyed it or not. He was making it clear that she mattered not.
Determined not to surrender, she placed her hands on his chest and tried her hardest to push him away. He moved, but not enough to step back. Instead, he grabbed her wrists in a painful hold and held them tightly above her head. All the time, his wet lips plundered hers with increasing force until she had no choice but to open her lips to gasp for air as she tried desperately to twist her head to one side to avoid him. When that didn’t work, she realised a different tactic was needed.
She had watched her brothers wrestle on many an occasion in her youth. The only time she had known them both to be banned from going out to play for a week was a result of the time when Arthur had been accidentally kneed in the groin. Georgiana tried to position herself to do just that but managed to wriggle free enough to twist her head around and stop him kissing her.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” she snarled. “Get out of this room–now.”
Her eyes were full of hate as she glared at him and kicked him hard in the shin. Pain made him instinctively loosen his grip on her, and she took the opportunity to lower her arms. She rubbed the bruised flesh of her wrists, and glared at him.
“I am going to send for the magistrate. I will have you arrested for this,” she hissed.
“Oh, come now. It is too late to go all coy on me,” Simeon challenged dismissively. “You and I both know you have been asking for this. You have been flirting with me and encouraging my attentions since the day we met. You can’t fight shy now. You want me, Georgiana.”
“I haven’t asked you for anything. I don’t want you,” Georgiana snapped. “Now leave me alone. I won’t have you foisting yourself upon me. You are a blackguard. A scoundrel. I don’t ever want anything to do with the likes of you.”
Simeon shook his head. “I cannot leave now I am afraid.”
“I will go back to the main desk and get you thrown out of this hotel for harassing me,” Georgiana cried when Simeon caught her arm to stop her escaping. “Let me go, you pig.”
“The hotel wouldn’t dare throw me out. They are aware of who my father is.”
“I don’t care who your father is, you are a louse, and have no right to touch me in this way,” she protested loudly.
Rather than answer, Simeon yanked her toward him and began to kiss her again.
“Get away from her, you bastard,” Will snarled.
Suddenly Simeon’s hold was removed. Georgiana slumped against the wall, gasping and quivering in horror. The dull thud of f
lesh hitting flesh was cringe-worthy but registered little on Georgiana. She was struggling to comprehend what had just happened. It took her several minutes to realise what was going right beside her. It was only when Simeon began to speak that she snapped out of her daze and followed the brawling men out into the corridor.
“She asked for it,” Simeon snarled throwing her a disparaging glare.
“No, I did not,” Georgiana cried. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and shuddered in distaste as she threw him a contemptuous glare. “You foisted yourself on me.”
Will grabbed the man’s shirt and hauled him to his feet. Once upright, Simeon landed a punch in his solar plexus that stole his breath, but Will would not be defeated. The jealousy that surged through him, a result of what he had just witnessed, was enough to build the fury that rode him to shocking levels. The need to destroy and eradicate was so strong that Will eyed Simeon’s throat and contemplated grabbing it.
“Don’t lie to him, you asked me here,” Simeon growled.
“I did not,” Georgiana protested as her tears flowed. “I did no such thing. I wouldn’t. I don’t even like you.”
“She is mine,” Will snarled. “How dare you place your hands on her?”
While his words registered on Georgiana, and she was thrilled by the force of his sentiment, she was horrified at the open hostility between the two men, and the threat Simeon posed to him. There was something almost feral in Simeon’s eyes now that warned her that he was bordering on being unhinged.
“Someone needs to teach you better manners,” Will growled. “Did nobody tell you it is highly inappropriate of you to be in a bed chamber alone with a single woman who quite obviously doesn’t want you to be there much less touch her? When a woman says no, she means no.”
Simeon snarled and threw Georgiana a gloating smirk. “Oh, because accepting a ride from a stranger is perfectly normal, is it? Or behaving like a wanton harlot by staying all alone in a hotel is perfectly acceptable as long as it is her? Or wearing a red dress like a whore is fine.”
“You saw me?” she gasped in horror. “How?”